ADVERTISEMENT

Last month, members of the Sea Shepherd group threw bottles and
containers of foul-smelling substances at a whaling ship in an attempt
to disrupt the hunt, resulting in three sailors complaining of eye
irritation.

The incident followed a high-profile standoff in January in which
two activists boarded another Japanese whaling ship, forcing it to
suspend whaling for a month.

The absence of fin whales in the catch was partly due to other factors, the ministry said.

"Sabotage is not entirely to blame for that. There was a situation where few fin whales were spotted," the official said.

Greenpeace Japan, which also carried out activities aimed at
obstructing the hunt, said it was not satisfied with the reduced catch.

"They say that one reason for the lower catch is that they didn't
see so many whales," said Junichi Sato of Greenpeace. "That is a good
reason why they should not conduct lethal research."

He added that, despite the reduction, the number of whales actually killed was more than three years ago.

International criticism forced Japan to give up a plan to catch 50 humpback whales, a favorite with whale watchers.

The clashes sparked a spate of diplomatic complaints between Japan and Australia.

The Australian government has promised to try to stop Japan's
whaling program and is considering international legal action, although
the two countries have agreed not to let the issue hurt ties.

Japan's coastguard and police will inspect the country's whaling
fleet this week after the clashes with the conservation activists,
local media reported on Sunday.

The six-ship fleet is expected to return home on Tuesday.

Japan, which considers whaling a cultural tradition, abandoned
commercial whaling after agreeing to an international whaling
moratorium in 1986. But arguing that the hunt is necessary to study
whales, Japan began what it calls a scientific research whaling program
the following year.

Japan's whaling fleet has killed about 7,000 Antarctic minkes over the past 20 years.